The 1994 law makes it illegal to block access to any clinic where abortions
are preformed, or to injure or intimidate women seeking abortions or members of
the clinic staff.

Today's action by the court stemmed from a civil suit filed by the US
Department of Justice against over 25 persons involved in blocking an Englewood,
New Jersey reproductive health clinic in 1996 and 1997.

In that case, a federal judge issued an injunction preventing the defendants
from blocking access to the clinic. The judge in the case also found the Freedom
of Access to Clinic Entrances Act to be a constitutional act of Congress
under the Commerce Clause.

The decision was further upheld by a series of US appeals courts.

In argument before the Supreme Court, lawyers for the persons charged in the
original case argued that access to the clinic could have been regulated by
local law enforcement officers, thus making federal intervention under the Freedom
of Access to Clinic Entrances Act a constitutionally invalid exercise of
authority.

Attorneys for the Justice Department argued that Congress had passed the Act
because local laws and law enforcement agencies, especially in smaller towns,
were inadequate to properly respond to the level of potential violence
associated with attempts to inhibit women's access to abortion clinics.
Congress, government attorneys argued, has the power to ban violent and
obstructive conduct whenever such conduct may substantially hinder interstate
commerce.